Commonly conductivity/static dissipater additives are utilized to address risks of fires associated with charging, accumulation of charge and discharging in poorly conductive flammable materials.
Movement of liquid gives rise to increased electrostatic charges. Increased electrostatic charges give increased risk of sparking. The risk is greatest where the liquids are of low conductivity; low conductivity liquids can include hydrocarbon fuels, and aliphatic and aromatic solvents, ethers, silicones or esters.
Conductivity improvers (also called antistatic agents or static dissipaters) are used to raise conductivity in many industrial contexts, including manufacture of polymers; in flammable solvents such as styrene, pentane or isooctane; in aluminium foil processing; and in copper extraction.
Use of these additives has greatly reduced the frequency of fires attributed to static discharge ignition.
Asphaltenes are components which are present in hydrocarbons such as crude oils, partially refined oils, fuels, process streams and intermediates. Asphaltenes may separate and cause problems. Separation often occurs on storage or when the hydrocarbons are subjected to change over time, for example temperature change, pressure change or blending with other hydrocarbons. The result may be the formation of sludge, and the problems caused may include difficult or uneven pumping, blocking of ducts and filters and delivery of products of varying composition.
In some cases, separation of asphaltenes may occur during the combustion process, resulting in fouling, for example fouling of surfaces, poor heat transfer or poor combustion, with consequent reductions in fuel economy, reductions in power, increased emissions or increased maintenance costs.
A very large amount of work has been done on chemical additives for inhibiting the separation of asphaltenes from hydrocarbon compositions. Every company active in the fuels sector uses or offers such additives, and the associated patent literature is extensive.
While static dissipaters are used in the industry to address concerns with static discharge ignition, their utility as asphaltene dispersants, as fuel stabilizers or as additives to improve combustion is not foreshadowed in the literature.
It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide hydrocarbon compositions with good stability and preferably with good combustion performance.